Gene Banks

Gene Banks

Banks as a Wizards assistant
Personal information
Born (1959-05-15) May 15, 1959
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Listed weight 215 lb (98 kg)
Career information
High school West Philadelphia
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
College Duke (1977–1981)
NBA draft 1981 / Round: 2 / Pick: 28th overall
Selected by the San Antonio Spurs
Playing career 1981–1993
Position Shooting guard / Small forward
Number 20
Career history
As player:
1981–1985 San Antonio Spurs
1985–1987 Chicago Bulls
1988–1989 Arimo Bologna
1989–1990 La Crosse Catbirds (CBA)
1990–1992 Maccabi Rishon Lezion (Israel)
1992–1993 Hapoel Herzliya (Israel)
As coach:
2009–2012 Washington Wizards (asst.)
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points 5,305 (11.3 ppg)
Assists 1,335 (2.9 apg)
Rebounds 2,430 (5.8 rpg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Eugene Lavon "Gene" Banks (born May 15, 1959) is a retired American professional basketball player. He is one of a handful of players to make high school All-America three times. He was named to the McDonald's American team in 1977 and was the very first McDonald's Classic MVP. He also played in the prestigious Dapper Dan Scholastic High School All-American Basketball Classic in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and won MVP honors of that game. He scored a career high 53 points in his senior year at West Philadelphia high school and was voted the number one high school player of the year, along with Albert King.

Basketball career

College and NBA years

A 6'7" forward born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Banks starred at Duke University, where he received the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Rookie of the Year award in 1978. Banks was the sixth African American player in Duke's history.[1] He also received team MVP honors three times. His Duke career is noteworthy in other regards as well. In 1981, during Mike Krzyzewski's first year in the home game against the Blue Devils' heated rival, the North Carolina Tar Heels, he hit the game-tying shot as time expired, sending the crowd into a massive frenzy. Duke went on to win in overtime, ushering in a new era in Blue Devils basketball. Banks also won the ACC scoring title in 1981, over such ACC/NCAA All-Americans as James Worthy (UNC) and Ralph Sampson (UVA). He was inducted into the prestigious Duke Sports Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Duke Hall of Honors in 1996. He was an NCAA two-time All-American during his tenure at Duke and finished in the top ten of almost every statistical category of Duke basketball. As of the start of the 2016-17 season, Bank's 53.9% career field goal percentage ranks 28th all-time for NBA players, less than one-thousandth of a percentage point behind Wilt Chamberlain.

Banks went on to play six seasons in the National Basketball Association with the San Antonio Spurs and the Chicago Bulls. He averaged 11.3 points per game spanning over 468 games in his professional NBA career. His career high of 44 points was achieved against the Los Angeles Lakers in 1983. He recorded his first NBA triple-double with the Chicago Bulls.

Italian and Israeli leagues

In the 1988–89 season he played in Italy for Arimo Bologna. He went from Italy to continue his career as a member of the Maccabi Rishon Lezion basketball club in Israel. In 1993 he continued his play in Israel as a member of Hapoel Herzliya and took them to the Israeli Cup Championship game.

Between these stints, Banks played the 1989–90 season with the La Crosse Catbirds of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA), averaging 15.3 points in 40 games. The Catbirds would go on to win the CBA title that year.[2]

Coaching

In 2009, Gene Banks became an assistant coach with the Washington Wizards.[3] In 2012, Banks was reassigned from assistant coach with the Wizards to scout of the southern region of the eastern Atlantic Coast. He is credited with the development of such players as JaVale McGee, Andray Blatche and Kevin Seraphin.

Honors

Banks was inducted into the Duke Basketball Hall of Fame in 1994. In 2007, Banks returned to Israel and was announced and awarded by Maccabi Rishon LeZion to be the "best foreign player" to play with the club until 2007.

References

  1. ↑ Jacobs, Barry (2007-11-01). Across the Line: Profiles in Basketball Courage : Tales of the First Black Players in the ACC and SEC. Lyons Press. pp. 73–. ISBN 9781599210421. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  2. ↑ 1990–91 CBA Official Guide and Register, page 250
  3. ↑ Wizards Assistant Coaches
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